My Little Girl
by Illbeyourbatman
Summary: A story about Leela's decision to let her parents raise Peri and the aftermath of her decision.
1. Chapter 1

**I recently became obsessed with Hollyoaks again after ages anyway I wrote this because the idea wouldn't leave me alone and it's similar to another story I'm writing and find myself fascinated by the Characters back story. **

**I obviously don't own Holloaks or any the characters. **

**Criticism welcome.**

* * *

_"Stop playing mum Leela! Just stop it!"_ Peri said before storming away in typical teenage fashion. It's funny Leela thinks because that is all she has ever tried to do. Stop being Peri's mum but no matter how deep she tries to bury her feeling they never really go away.

Well it's either funny or tragic she doesn't know which yet.

When she found out she was pregnant she had been terrified, she was already four months along and had no idea how to raise a kid she was only a kid herself.

She done the only thing she could think of and booked herself in for a termination.

She tried putting it to the back of her mind and plastered on a fake smile trying to hide how scared she was until the day she skipped school and took two buses to the run down looking clinic. She had stood outside for what seemed like forever not caring about the looks she was getting in her school uniform, like they were one to judge her when they were probably there for the same reason!

It had felt like she was battling a war within herself. The rational part of her brain was telling her she couldn't do this that she couldn't have a baby now she was only 14 years old, she hadn't even finished school yet but she couldn't make herself go through the doors. She couldn't go through with it.

It was stupid she knew that. One mistake and she had ruined her life.

Leela tried to convince herself it didn't have to, she knew her mum and dad would be far from happy, her mum especially would try to make her have an abortion but she knew they wouldn't throw her out and Cameron would stick around he was raised by a single mum and Leela knew how much he resented his dad for leaving them he wouldn't want that for their baby she hoped.

She had waited another couple of days before telling her mum. She had tried when she had finally dragged herself home from the clinic but had been to scared, she knew her dad would be so disappointed in her and she couldn't take that she had always been more of a daddy's girl and seeing him look at her life that would break her. Her mum was disappointed with everything in Leela's life from her choice of friends to her grades.

_"What." She whispered turning around forgetting the plate she had been cleaning._

_"I'm pregnant." Leela had said trying to sound stronger that she felt._

_"No you're not," Sam denied. "You have to be having sex to get pregnant and your only 14! Your are not that stupid!"_

_"I'm pregnant." Leela repeated this time her voice breaking slightly._

_Her mum began to cry but Leela stayed where she was not daring to go and comfort her like she wanted. "It's that boy isn't it? The one you keep skipping school for and staying out till all hours."_

_Leela still said nothing knowing how much both of her parents hated Cameron but especially her mum seeing as she had arrested him before._

_"How could you let this happen!" Sam shouted through her tears. "I thought we raised you better than this."_

_"You did." Leela protested feeling tears sting her eyes. "It just happened."_

_"It doesn't just happen Leela! You have ruined your life for what? 5 minutes of happiness? Did you even think about your future!"_

_"I didn't plan it, it was a mistake."_

_"When Tegan poured orange juice in her cereal this morning that was a mistake! When your dad gets the wrong loaf of bread that's a mistake this," She said gesturing at Leela. "This is so much more than a mistake."_

_"I'm sorry." Leela cried._

_Sam started laughing. "Your sorry. Well that makes everything OK then doesn't it."_

_"Please." Leela begged unsure what she wanted from her mother._

_"Please? Please what?Don't be upset? Disappointed? Angry?" Sam shouted. "That boy has well and truly ruined your life now hasn't he." _

_"I haven't told him yet." _

_"Are you keeping it." _

_Leela hesitated. "Yes."_

_"Why? Think he's gonna stick around once he finds out, Think your going to be a perfect little family do you? Well tell me this who's going to look after it when you're at school? Or when you want to go out but have to stay home with a crying baby? Who's going to pay for all its things? Or is Cameron just going to shop lift everything you need!"_

_"I haven't thought of everything yet but we'll make it work, we have to."_

_"Leela, think about this." Sam implored Leela coming close enough to grab her but the shoulder. "Really think about this. Is it what you want, Really? To throw away your life on one silly mistake. You don't have to go through with this."_

_"I made an appointment at a clinic." _

_"You're making the right choice sweetheart." Sam said hugging her. " I know it doesn't seem like it now but you'll see once this is all over that it was for the best."_

_Leela broke free from her mothers grasp. "Your not listening to me! I made an appointment but I couldn't go through with it, I can't kill my baby."_

_"For god sakes Leela it's not even a baby yet it's a cluster of cells."_

_"I'm keeping my baby."_

Her mother had sent her up to her room not long after that claiming she couldn't bare to look at her. Leela sat on her bed clutching a stuffed animal she had had from childhood and couldn't bare to throw away while she waited for her dad to come home and his inevitable disappointment. She didn't need to wait long before she heard the front door open and her parent's muffled voices carrying up the stairs. She waited and waited for her dad to come into her room but the longer it took the more anxious she got. He came into her room long after her mother was asleep and held her as she cried whispering reassurances as he did.

Two weeks later Cameron got arrested for Armed robbery and Leela realised once again that she was in this on her own. Leela didn't know what was going through his head she hadn't been allowed to leave the house since her parents found out not even for school. Her mother broke the news to her using it as another excuse to try to force her to have an abortion but her dad sat her down and told her no matter what she chooses he'd support her.

She was nearly six months along before anyone really took notice that she wasn't just putting on weight that there was a small but distinctive baby bump formed. Tegan who at 9 years old was oblivious to the tension in the house liked to point out that all she done now was lay around the house in her PJ's and ate but she held her head high even when she could hear the comments that she would pretend didn't bother her from her so-called friends at school because no matter what they thought it wasn't half as bad as what her mother thought of her now.

_"Give it back." Tegan shouted._

_"Erm why don't you make me." Leela taunted holding the cake she had nicked off Tegan in the air as her younger sister tried to get it from her._

_"Like you need any more sweets anyway." Tegan spat out quickly giving up her fight for the cake._

_"You're hardly Kate Moss are you."_

_"Mum! tell Leela." Tegan screeched. _

_"She started it."_

_"No you did!"_

_"You called me fat!"_

_"No," Tegan said smirking. "I implied you where fat."_

_"Just leave it Leela." Sam sighed._

_"I didn't even do anything she was the one who started it." Leela said pointing at Tegan who just kept smirking._

_"Just go to your room please." _

_"Argh." Leela fumed storming off._

Tegan got sent away to stay with their grandparents as Leela's due date grew closer, her mother explaining that it was for the best considering she didn't know yet if she was keeping the baby or not and it wasn't right burdening Tegan with that sort of stuff. Leela knew there was no way she was giving up her daughter but her mother couldn't accept that.

Peri Lomax was born on Monday the 28th of February 2000 after nearly 12 hours of labour. She wishes she could say it was the hardest thing she had ever had to do but labour was easy compared to the realisation that her daughter deserved better than her. Peri was two weeks old when Leela stopped being her mother and started being her sister.

_"I love her but she deserves better than me." Leela tearfully admitted to her parents never taking her eyes off Peri who lay sleeping in her arms._

_"What do you mean sweetheart?" Her dad asked._

_"I mean she deserves to have a family that can give her everything I can't, she deserves a mum who has finished high school."_

_"You want to give her away."_

_"No." Leela said hugging her daughter close like it would be the last time before getting to her feet. "I want you to raise Peri."_

_"What?" Her mother muttered._

_"Darling I don't think you've thought this through."_

_"I have, it's all I've thought about since the minute she was born. I love her and that is never going to change but I cannot give her everything she needs." Leela said handing the baby to her mother._

_"You're just tired. A good nights sleep will do you the world of good." Her dad tried to persuade her but Leela had made her decision and was sticking to it._

_"I want my baby to have a stable family with a mum and dad, I've made up my mind and I'm not going to change it."_

_"Leela this isn't just for a couple of months until you feel like playing mum again if we do this it's forever." Her mum warned._

_"Now hang on-" Her dad tried to protest._

_"I know." She smiled sadly taking one last look at her baby. "I phoned Aunty Jane and she said I could go stay with her for a little while."_

_"You don't have to leave. We can work this out." Her dad tried._

_Leela could feel the tears that where stinging her eyes start rolling down her cheeks. "If I stay it's going to be so much harder to let her go, It will be best for everyone if I go away for a couple of weeks."_

It was hard when Peri's first word had been mum and it wasn't directed at her.

It was hard when Peri wanted her dad and not her when she was Ill.

It was hard watching how she seemed to light up just at the sight of her parents but every time it hurt it just reminded her that she had done the right thing for her daughter even if other people wouldn't understand.

As each year went by it got easier to pretend that Peri was her sister. She could go days without thinking about it sometimes weeks. It helped that only her mum and dad knew her secret but neither brought it up since she had moved back home.

_"I know I wasn't behind you having the baby but you done the right thing." Her mother whispered in her ear hugging her tight._

_Leela watched as Peri lay on her mat happily kicking her feet as Tegan made faces at her._

_"I know."_

She never doubted her decision until they found out Peri had a brain tumour. Suddenly she found herself wanting to tell Peri, wanting to be her mum, wanting to take all the pain and sadness away but knew she couldn't because even though it would make her better it would make Peri hurt. She tried to tell herself that she made her decision 14 years ago and she couldn't change her mind now. The last straw had been finding out her dad was gay...actually not that he was gay. No Ste was gay and she had no problem with it. Finding out her dad was having an affair tore her world apart.

It made her question the people who she had trusted her daughter with. If they where keeping that kind of secret from her what else where they hiding.

No. Peri was right it was time to stop playing mum. Leela was going to get her daughter back no matter what anyone else said.


	2. Chapter 2

**So originally this was a one-shot but after watching the summer trailer and reading spoilers I just had to write this. So It's my idea about how events are going down. I ended it there cause it's really late but I just couldn't hold off on posting so there should be another part to come but I make no promises.**

**Obv don't own Hollyoaks or the Characters**

**Criticism welcome.**

* * *

It was a quiet night in, the type of night where she lounged around the couch with a bottle of wine and a take-away watching her favourite comedy on the telly. Things between her and Ziggy had been tense since he asked her to move in with him and Leela refused. They had only been going out for a couple of months and there was no way Leela was ready for that kind of commitment.

She hadn't even thought that things where that serious between them. She had just been looking for fun with Ziggy and thought he felt the same way until he was talking about moving in together and love. Obviously she was wrong.

"Hey," Leela said as her mum came through the front door looking spooked. "I've just put this on if you want to sit and watch with me. If your lucky I'll even share my pizza with you." She teased.

"Not right now love." Sam muttered barley looking at Leela. "Where's Peri?"

"She's up in her room studying for some maths test or something. Tegan took Rose and is staying at a mates tonight."

"Yeah she text me earlier."

"You OK?" Leela asked pausing the DVD before following her mum into the kitchen. "I was looking for you earlier but it was like you had just disappeared had me worried for a minute

"Yeah I did text you. I just got caught up in some stuff for work." Sam said trying to fake a smile.

"You sure." Leela pressed unconvinced. She knew her mum wasn't taking being demoted well but over the last week of so she had seemed to come to terms with it. After figuring out the time Fraser had really died and clearing Ste she seemed to be getting back to normal.

"Yes, now what kind of pizza did you get." Sam asked pouring a glass of wine.

"Er meat feast of course."

"Of course."

Ever since Leela had wanted to tell Peri the truth, hell ever since her father had moved out things had been strained between her and her mother but she wanted to change that. Leela wanted what was best for her family, with her dad not at home now and her mum barely holding it together it was her job to keep the family together. Tegan was starting to pick up on the tension between her and their mother and the last thing she needed was her sticking her nose in.

* * *

"Right what's going on." Leela asked frustrated with her mother's behaviour. They had lounged about the living room all day and Leela hadn't had a chance to talk to Sam on her own. She only had about 5 minutes before Peri came barreling down the stairs with another DVD.

"Nothing love." Sam replied.

"Stop lying! You've been on edge since you came home last night." Leela pointed out trying to keep her voice low. "Then you take the day off work and keep Peri off school so you can have a girlie day in."

"I just think that with everything going on in will be good for us to have a little one on one time. She's had a rough go of it lately."

"Mum just tell me what's going on." Leela begged not believing a word her mum said.

Leela could see her mum visibly hesitate trying to work out what to say before answering. "Your dad's seeing someone."

"What?" She asked shocked that he would move on that quickly.

"He told me last week. I just want to be the one that tells Peri that's all."

"Who?" Leela demanded.

"He didn't say only that he was moving on."

"Is it John-Paul? It is isn't it! I'm gonna kill him."

"It's not John-Paul."

"Because John-Paul is currently seeing Ste."

"Ste? Our Ste? That's sick." Leela said disgusted that Ste would date their fathers ex-boyfriend. The same ex-boyfriend who tore their family apart. "I'm going to go talk to dad."

"Leave it Leela."

"Why? He destroyed this family and is leaving us to pick up the pieces while he swans about with his new man. I don't think so."

"Leela think about Peri." Sam tried.

"I am thinking about Peri! She thinks you're getting back together. Do you know how much this is going to crush her?"

"Just give me this one day."

"What's going to be so different tomorrow? We can lock ourselves away in this house for the rest of our lives but that doesn't mean that the world outside is just going to stop. It's better just telling her." Leela argued.

"Is everything OK?" Peri asked tentatively coming down the stairs holding her favourite DVD.

"Yeah just Leela thinking she should get to pick the next movie." Sam reassured Peri.

"No way it's my turn." Peri smiled obviously satisfied with her mum's answer as she flopped down on the floor and started setting up a new movie.

"Pez we've seen this like a million times." Leela argued half heartedly.

"And?" Peri shot back.

"That's enough girls." Sam said. "Leela can choose next."

"Actually I have to nip out for a bit."

"Can't it wait." Peri whined.

"Can't have a movie day without some proper goodies now can we. I'll nip to the shop and get some." Leela replied making Peri smile.

"Leela." Sam warned.

Leela ignored her as she put on her coat. "I won't be long."

* * *

Leela had been seething when she found her father. How dare he try to put their family through even more because of his mistakes. All she could see was him being selfish yet again and her having to tidy up his mess. She'd screamed obscenities at him when she finally found him in the coffee shop. She hadn't cared who heard her as she told him he wasn't welcome in their lives anymore, that he didn't deserve to be a father. That he didn't deserve them.

Bumping into Ziggy had been awkward for her. What do you say to the man who confesses their love for you and you froze and he dumped you. Ziggy had wanted to put it behind them and get back together but Leela was hesitant knowing how he felt.

"I got all your favourite's and I was thinking we could order in a take-away tonight." Leela said coming through the door with bags of sweets from price slice before noticing no one was in the living room. "Hello."

"Up here." Sam called from upstairs.

Leela set down the shopping before making her way up the stairs checking Peri's room first and was shocked to see Peri's room. All her clothes were packed away in boxes, her posters of her current boy band fixation had been taken down from the walls, CD's and DVD's lay neatly stacked on the dresser waiting to be packed.

"MUM!" Leela shouted running to her parents, well her mother's bedroom.

"Here grab this." Sam said when she swung the door open handing her a suitcase. Looking behind her Leela could see the room was looking as bare as Peri's had.

"What's going on." Leela asked already knowing the answer.

"We're leaving."

"What? Why? I spoke to dad. He won't bother us again." Leela said trying to change her mother's mind.

"I'm never going to be able to watch him move on with someone else, I love him."

"Then don't leave, If you want him back fight for him." Leela said going against everything she felt about her dad.

"That's it though I don't want him back, I can never get what we had back but I'm not going to sit around and watch him move on with someone else."

Leela followed after her mother as the set about lugging two suitcases down the stairs. "What about me and Tegan. We can't just up and leave. I've got a job and Tegan's got uni and Rose. What about us? Or what about Peri's school?"

"They're on summer holidays soon anyway and you know you and Tegan are more than welcome to come, in fact I'd love it if you'd both come." Sam said.

"Mum you can't do this." Leela begged.

"I have to Leela."

"What about Peri?," Leela questioned. "You can't take her away she's my daughter."

"Maybe that's what you need right now love, some space to figure out what you want and what's best for everyone. Sam soothed.

"Is this about me going to tell her? Cause I swear I won't say a thing."

"Hollyoaks is poison. Ever since we've moved here it's been one bad thing after another. I need to leave Leela and no nothing you say is going to stop me."

Leela could feel tears sting her eyes. "What about Peri? Is this what she wants?"

"She's a 14-year-old girl she doesn't know what she want's." Sam argued.

"Have you even asked her?"

"I'm her mum I'm doing what is best for her." Sam stated.

"I'll take that as a no." Leela said turning and walking away.

"Where are you going."

"To give Peri the choice that you won't."

"Leela!" Sam shouted but Leela paid her no attention as she made her way out the house looking for her daughter with Sam following behind her. Leela didn't have to look far as she ran down the stair's she seen Peri and Tegan stood together in the middle of the village laughing.

"Have you heard about this move?" Leela asked as she got close to them.

Tegan rolled her eyes. "Of course mum's hardly going to leave without telling me is she."

"And what? You think this is the right thing to do?" Leela demanded.

"She's an adult Leela she can do what she want's."

"What about you Pez." Leela asked turning to Peri. "You want to leave the village as well? Leave me, Tegan and dad behind?"

"Leela mum's made up her mind." Tegan interrupted before Peri could answer.

Sam had finally caught up with them. "Tegan's right. I'm not changing my mind."

"What about what's best for Peri? Your just going to take her away from her friends and her school for the second time? How is that what's best!?" Leela demanded.

"I'm her mum I'll say what's best for her!" Sam shouted nearing tears.

"But you're not are ya." Leela shouted back before realising what she was saying.

The world seemed to go silent as the implication of Leela's words sank in.

"What!?" Tegan exploded. "You are such a liar."

Leela blocked her out waiting for Peri to say something.

"You're sisters lying, right Leela? She doesn't know what she's saying love." Sam said trying to hug Peri close to her as if to shield her from Leela's words.

"Peri." Leela uttered as tears streamed down her face.

"Let's go inside and finish packing." Sam suggested trying to lead Peri away.

Peri broke free from her mothers grasp. "Leela? What did you mean she's not my mum? Of course she is."

"I'm so sorry Peri." Leela's voice broke as she force the words to leave her mouth. "I am so sorry."

"Sorry about what? Why would you lie?" Peri demanded close to tears.

"She's up set love, she doesn't want us to leave. That's all." Sam soothed.

"She's lost it more like." Tegan muttered.

"Stop lying to me!" Peri demanded.

"Let's just all go home and we can talk about this." Sam said noticing everyone watching them.

"No! Tell me the truth! Are you my mum?" Peri shouted at Sam.

"You are my daughter no matter what anyone else says. You are mine. I have raised you for the last 14 years and couldn't be more proud of the girl you became." Sam said.

Peri started crying harder. "But your not my real mum are you? You didn't give birth to me!"

"I am your real mum!" Sam protested before hesitating. "And even though I didn't give birth to you It doesn't change anything. It doesn't change how me and your dad feel about you."

"You what?" Tegan demanded.

"It changes everything!" Peri cried. "It changes my whole life."

"All I'm saying is it doesn't have to." Sam tried.

"Who's my real parents?" Peri said cutting off her mother. "Didn't they want me?"

"It wasn't like that Peri." Sam said.

"Let's go home and talk." Leela cut in.

"And how did you know Leela!" Peri demanded. "How do you know any of this? Did Tegan know? Was I the only person who wasn't told."

"Babe I'm just as shocked as you are." Tegan pointed out.

"Was it some running joke. Oh lets see who can keep the secret from Peri the longest! The poor girl who no one wanted!"

"You are wanted!" Leela argued.

"Not by my real parents though? Am I?" Peri said through her tears.

"Yes you are!"

"And how would you know Leela!?" Peri demanded.

"Because I'm your mum!" Leela shouted. "Your my little girl.


	3. Chapter 3

**THIS PART DIDN'T COME AS EASY AS THE REST SO I'M PROBABLY GOING TO STOP WRITING FOR A WEEK OR SO BUT I DON'T THINK I'M OVER MY HOLLYOAKS OBSESSION JUST YET, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S GETTING REALLY GOOD! AND I NEED TO WRITE A LEELA AND PERI CONFRONTATION. **

**DON'T OWN HOLLYOAKS OR THE CHARACTORS.**

**FEEL FREE TO TELL ME WHAT YOU DIDN'T LIKE**

**OH AND THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE REVIEWED I REALLY REALLY REALLY LOVE YOU!**

* * *

_"Because I'm your mum," Leela shouted. "Your my little girl."_

Silence descended after Leela's shock confession. Leela could feel her tears freely running down her cheeks but did nothing to hold them back. She couldn't believe she had just blurted it out like that. She couldn't believe she had said it at all but one look at the devastation on Peri's face and she knew there was no turning back now.

"Peri." Leela muttered taking a step forward, closer to Peri only to have her step back out of her grasp. "Peri list-"

"No you're not." Tegan interrupted. "I think I'd remember you being pregnant."

"Let's go inside love." Sam said tears streaming down her face as she approached Peri. "We can talk about it there."

"Leela's my mum." Peri asked confusion evident in her voice.

_'Yes'_ Leela wanted to shout. _'Yes I'm your mum_' but couldn't seem to speak the words.

"I'm your mum." Sam cried. "Nothing has changed that I'm still your mum."

"But you're not are you? Your all liars!" Peri shouted before taking off running as fast as she could away from the 3 women.

"Peri." Leela shouted starting to go after her before being held back.

"How could you!?" Sam yelled at Leela. "How could you do this to her? To me? How could you be this selfish?"

"I'm selfish? You're the one who wanted to take my daughter away without saying a word to me!"

Sam scoffed. "My daughter, I'm her mum. I brought her up not you! That means I don't have to run all my decisions about Peri past you."

"I gave birth to her not you!"

"That doesn't make you her mother." Sam shouted. "I'm the one who stayed up with her when she was ill, I'm the one who went to every parents evening or school play. Me! Not you Leela! You were to busy going out clubbing most nights doing god knows what!"

"That's not fair and you know it." Leela argued. Knowing she had went off the rails a little after having Peri.

"No, What's not fair is the fact that you want to take my little girl away from me after 14 years."

"She's mine." Leela cried.

"She's not a doll for you to fight over!" Tegan yelled having had enough of her mum and sister arguing. "She's a teenage girl whose whole world has just been blown apart and you two are standing here arguing about how it affects you! Right now neither of you deserve to be her mum."

* * *

Peri didn't know where she was going all she knew was she had to get away. She ran to escape from them. From her family but mostly from the realisation that everyone she loved had been lying to her for her entire life.

Her first instinct had been to run to her dad, he always made everything better before realising he wasn't her dad was he? No he was her grandad. All this time he had lied to her. Everyone had lied to her.

Everyone she loved was a liar.

She thought about finding Sienna, she'd know what to do, before brushing it off. She had Nico now she wouldn't need Peri. She'd always found it funny how Sienna had thought she was her daughter, couldn't imagine why, everyone was always saying how much she looked like Leela grown up. She'd always taken it as a compliment, Leela was so beautiful and Peri never felt that way but when ever someone noticed their resemblance Peri felt pretty, felt confident. Now it just made her feel sick.

'How come she hadn't figured it out?' A voice in the back of her head nagged. 'Leela was always around when Peri needed her, she never missed a birthday, Unlike Tegan who went away for college Leela stuck closer to home telling Peri she'd miss her too much if she was that far away.

She wondered if Ste knew if he had been let into the family secret or if it was more need to know basis. She wondered if they had ever planned to tell her or let her go her whole life living a lie.

Was she meant to call Leela mum now? Call her parents Gran and Grandad?

It was all so messed up! She didn't think that happened in real life!

Had Leela been sent away to have Peri? Did her parent's tell everyone she was at camp? What a cliché!

* * *

"I can't find her!" Tegan shouted hurrying towards them as fast as she could while pushing Rose's pram.

"We've checked everywhere." Leela said starting to worry.

"Did you check the folly?" Tegan questioned.

"First place I looked. Did you get through to dad?" Leela asked her mum.

"I've tried but there's still no answer."

"What about her mates? Has anyone checked with Tom?" Tegan asked.

"Of course we did." Sam rolled her eyes showing how stupid she found Tegan's question.

"Well where is she then!" Leela managed to keep her voice level even though everything inside of her was screaming out that she had to find her little girl. She had to make this right.

"She just had a big shock, we all did," Tegan said shooting Leela a dirty look. "She just needs some time to cool off. She'll come home when she's ready."

"She's 14 anything could happen to her!" Sam said. "I'm going to phone the police."

"Tegan's right." Leela reluctantly admitted. "She needs some space."

"No." Sam said shaking her head and searching for Sonny's number in her phone.

"Mum, just listen yeah?" Tegan asked. "She's found out that you've all been keeping this huge secret from her for her whole life. There is no way she want's to see any of you right now."

"So that means I should just let her wonder the streets does it!"

"That's not what's she saying." Leela replied. "We're all a bit emotional right now I think we need to go home get a cup of tea and wait for Peri to come home."

"You want me to sit and drink tea like nothing is wrong!" Sam shouted. "My little girl is out there with god knows who and I'm meant to just let that go!"

"She's hardly gonna get kidnapped." Tegan rolled her eyes letting out a snort. "They'd end up bringing her back once she opened her mouth."

"What do you mean?" Leela asked.

"Well she's got a big gob like you, she'd probably annoy them into bringing her home."

"I wasn't walking to you." She told Tegan. "Mum? What did you mean?"

Sam hesitated. "She's not in her right mind right now is she? Anyone could take advantage!"

"Right." Leela said disbelievingly.

"Your both idiots." Tegan said. "She'll come home when she's hungry."

"You might be content to sit around and do nothing but I'm not." Sam muttered as she called Sonny.

"You know something don't you? something wrong isn't it!" Leela called out, everything suddenly falling into place. "You've been weird for days now and then suddenly you want to move you and Peri hundreds of miles away, Why? What's going on?"

"It's nothing."

"If it involves my little girl it's not nothing is it?"

"There is nothing going on!"

"Leela's right." Tegan interjected. "When we we're talking earlier about you leaving, you seemed panicked like you couldn't get out of this place fast enough."

"Can you blame me." Sam replied not bothering to hang up the phone. "After everything that has happened in this village, I'd think you'd want a fresh start too Tegan after everything with Fraser."

"Stop trying to twist this around." Leela replied noting how unsure Tegan looked. "Something is going on and we want to know what."

"I was kidnapped."

"What!" Tegan asked shell-shocked. "By who? Are you alright?"

"They wanted to scare me and it worked."

"Why didn't you report it?" Leela asked.

Sam sighed unsure about how Leela would react to what she said next. "It was Cameron."

Out of all the things Leela expected that was definitely not one of them. "What?"

"Cameron? Leela's first love Cameron? Why would he want to hurt you?"

"He's Peri's biological dad." Sam rolled her eyes. "After you told me and your dad you wanted to tell Peri the truth I was scared, Scared that my little girl would hate me I would have done anything to stop that from happening. I went to see Cameron in prison."

"Why?" Leela croaked already knowing the answer.

"I was trying to protect you, both of you. You know what he's like! I told him to stay away, that if he contacted you I'd do whatever I could to see he never got out of prison." Sam admitted.

"That's rich!" Tegan snorted. "After everything you said about Fraser and your ex is in prison."

"He must have gotten out and thought he'd threaten me the way I threatened him." Sam continued as if Tegan hadn't spoken.

"Does he know about Peri?" Leela asked unsure of what she wanted the answer to be.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course!"

"Then why where you trying to take Peri and leave!"

"I didn't want to take the chance!" Sam roared. "As long as we live here and he's hanging around Peri was going to find out, I couldn't let that happen."

"To late for that now isn't it." Tegan replied sarcastically.

* * *

"Peri?" Ste asked confused as he came into his living room to find his youngest sister waiting for him. "What's going on?"

Peri sat silently, how do you tell someone that your whole world has been blown apart? That everything you believed was a lie?

"You OK?" Ste asked as he set the shopping down.

Peri croaked out. "No. I don't know what to do."

"Has someone hurt you." Ste asked trying not to sound to enraged.

Peri laughed. "Yeah."

"Who?" Ste demanded.

"Leela."

"Leela? Are you two having a barney?" Ste asked relieved that the situation wasn't as serious as he thought.

"Yeah."

"What she do now? Borrow your straighteners without asking? Spilled coffee over your homework again?"

"No."

"It's OK Pez you can tell me." Ste murmured giving her a hug after seeing how upset she was.

"She lied." Peri whispered. "She's been lying to me for my whole life."

"What'd you mean?"

"She's my mum."

"What! Who told you this!?"

"She did." Peri said before blurting out the whole confrontation.

"Well," Ste said blowing out a deep breath. "It sounds like you have had a worse day than me, how about I go and make us something chocolaty make us feel better? Yeah?"

Peri nodded with a small smile knowing she made the right choice coming to her brother or Uncle or whatever he was to her.


End file.
